iRule: David Cameron trials his No 10 dashboard app

Prime Minister is so happy with new app he can't wait to show it to Obama at G8 summit

DAVID CAMERON is currently trialling an application on his iPad which has been designed to help him with the day-to-day running of the country. The app has been developed by the Technology in Business Fast Stream unit working directly with the PM.

The BBC reports today that Cameron has already started using the Number 10 Dashboard app, which provides him with up-to-date live data on jobs, housing and other government statistics.

It has also been programmed to present the PM with opinion polls as well as monitoring social media channels so that he can keep in touch with public perceptions of the government.

Cameron is reportedly very happy with the app. Alice Newton, who has been working on it, told the Cabinet Office's website that the PM "particularly liked the statistical side, where we could give him quotable facts about what was going on. He found it useful to have a hard evidence base.”

She added: "He liked it so much, he was looking forward to showing it to President Obama at the G8 summit."

A Cabinet Office source told the BBC that after Cameron had road-tested the app it would then be rolled out across the upper echelons of government.

"There is now great demand for it right across government," the source said. "All we're doing is bringing government into line with what leading companies, big and small, have been doing for several years. It's radical for government, but it's not radical for 2012."

One thing the app won't be able to do is to prepare the PM for the unexpected - for example, being confronted on live TV with a list of alleged paedophiles in your party. Better wait for version 2.0 for that, Dave.